SEOUL: Yonhap News Agency, South Korea’s leading newswire service, held its annual forum Friday to discuss trilateral cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan in light of increasing military ties between Russia and North Korea.
The symposium, co-hosted with Seoul’s unification ministry, was held at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul under the theme “Status and Challenges of Korea-US-Japan Trilateral Cooperation.”
The forum takes place amid a complex security environment, underscored by a recently signed treaty between Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. This agreement is considered the strongest of its kind since the end of the Cold War.
Scores of senior diplomats, officials, lawmakers and security experts from South Korea, the United States and Japan were at the event.
In his message to the forum, President Yoon Suk Yeol said his government will “will wisely overcome North Korea’s provocations and the global polycrisis.”
“North Korea is continuously developin
g nuclear weapons and missiles, threatening our safety,” Yoon said in the message read by a host. He added that Seoul will take a responsible role as a global pivotal state for global peace and prosperity.
In opening remarks, Seong Ghi-hong, CEO and president of Yonhap News Agency, said Yonhap will stand along with the three countries in combating global multi-crises and striving for co-prosperity.
Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also delivered remarks, citing the Pyongyang-Moscow treaty as a severe security threat not only to the Korean Peninsula but also on a global level.
“We are considering corresponding measures, such as adjusting the scope of our support for Ukraine, depending on the level of Russia’s military cooperation with North Korea,” Han said.
In the welcoming address, Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho cited the heightened crisis surrounding the Korean Peninsula, worsened by North Korea’s unreasonable provocations, such as the sending of balloons filled with trash.
“The government will firmly res
pond to these threats by strengthening the U.S.-South Korea alliance and enhancing security cooperation among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, in collaboration with the international community,” he said.
U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg and Japanese Ambassador Koichi Mizushima also delivered opening speeches.
Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, Neil Koprowski, commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea, and Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will also deliver keynote speeches.
The forum features two comprehensive sessions.
The first session, titled “Korea’s Choice in the Middle of the Global Complex Crisis and the Changing Situation in Northeast Asia,” explores the complex geopolitical landscape. Panelists include Robert Edwin Kelly, a professor at Pusan National University, and Shinsuke J. Sugiyama, former vice minister for foreign affairs of Japan.
The second session focuses on inter-Korean issues under the theme “North Korea Declares ‘Two States’ … A Breakthrough in Inter-Korean Relations.”
Source: Yonhap News Age
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